"Ye Chen, you’ve finally decided to come out of seclusion. What kind of retreat did you take these past five months? You even missed the Trial Road," an elder in a red robe, who was none other than Elder Ouyang, spoke. He, too, had been a participant in that battle at the Demon Suppression Battlefield.
Ye Chen’s retreat had lasted five months, an excessively long duration; normally, it would be impossible to enter seclusion for such an extended period.
"Because I was in deep seclusion, I lost track of the outside world and had no knowledge of the passage of time or any messages sent from the outside, which led to me missing the opening day," Ye Chen shook his head and said.
Several faces exchanged looks of shock and disbelief—deep seclusion typically meant a significant breakthrough had been made. What exactly had Ye Chen achieved?
Elder Duanmu, whose eyes were full of penetrating light, hesitated for a moment before he couldn’t help but ask, "Ye Chen, have you... reached the Martial God Realm?"
The other two Supreme Elders, despite their centuries of life experience and worldly wisdom, couldn’t help but have their expressions drastically change at these words, "Elder Duanmu, what joke are you making? Ye Chen is only so young, how could he possibly have achieved the Martial God Realm so quickly?"
It was precisely because Ye Chen was too young, excessively so, that due to his extraordinary strength and talent, they often overlooked the fact that Ye Chen was only sixteen years old.
If Ye Chen truly became a Martial God, a sixteen-year-old Martial God would probably be the youngest throughout the entire Tiandu Continent.
Seeing the astonishment on their faces, Elder Duanmu responded with a wry smile, "I don’t believe it either, but I clearly saw Ye Chen’s speed was able to match mine, and more importantly, he was able to fly. What do you think?"
If the two Supreme Elders hadn’t known Elder Duanmu’s character, they would have definitely thought he was joking. Nonetheless, they still had a hard time believing it.
Flying was indeed a capability unique to Martial Gods; Innate Strong People, no matter how powerful, could not possess such a method.
But wasn’t Ye Chen too young? He was only sixteen—six years younger than Crown Prince Xia Yang. Could he truly have achieved the Martial God Realm so quickly?
If it was true, he might well be the youngest Martial God in history.
They couldn’t help but swallow hard, staring intently at Ye Chen, they said, "Ye Chen, can you really fly?"
With a slight smile, Ye Chen’s whole body lifted into the air, neither rising nor falling, suspended there. This display firmly convinced the two Supreme Elders, though Elder Duanmu had mentioned it prior, they still watched Ye Chen in shock and amazement, unable to believe, "Are you truly a Martial God?"
So young, could Xiafeng Country truly be about to witness the emergence of the youngest Martial God in history?
"Martial God?" Ye Chen shook his head, denying this perspective, "Elder Duanmu, you’re mistaken, I’m not yet a Martial God."
Hearing this, several elders of the Martial God Realm let out an inexplicable sigh of relief, yet there was also a sense of regret and disappointment. If Ye Chen really had reached the Martial God Realm, the future would be unimaginable, arguably the youngest Martial God on Tiandu Continent from ancient times to the present.
Such an achievement would surely draw the attention of even the Supreme Divine Spirits presiding over the entire Vast Continent.
What they didn’t know was that although Ye Chen was indeed not a Martial God, it didn’t mean his strength was inferior.
Elder Duanmu asked with a frown, "But how can you fly?"
Ye Chen simply smiled, "Just some special breakthroughs, so I’ve gained such a capability."
The elders all nodded, ceasing to probe further on the matter, as there were more pressing issues to address.
Ye Chen cut straight to the chase, immediately inquiring about the situation on Trial Road, "What exactly happened on Trial Road? When I just returned, I heard the gatekeepers discussing it—Xia Yang seems to have disappeared, and the Thirteenth Prince and others are being hunted. Please, elders, I would like to know."
When the conversation turned to the situation on Trial Road, the expressions of the Supreme Elders were quite solemn.
Elder Ouyang spoke with weight in his voice, "As you’ve heard, according to the intelligence we have received, our group of young strong ones from Xiafeng Academy is in quite a dire situation. Indeed, they are being hunted by a prince of the Tianqi Empire in conjunction with young strong ones from four other kingdoms, on the run everywhere. However, the good news is that, at the moment, there’s no news of any deaths, though half have already been eliminated."
"Crown Prince Xia Yang? His strength is the strongest, and even taking the whole Trial Road into account, I believe he ranks among the top tier. With him there, even the people from the Three Great Empires should be quite wary and not dare to be so brazen, right?" Ye Chen posed the most critical question.
Where exactly had Xia Yang gone? If he were present, then the Trial Road should be nothing to fear—even those of the royal bloodline from the Three Great Empires would hesitate claiming certain victory against him.
Having personally experienced Xia Yang’s strength, Ye Chen believed in Xia Yang’s might, definitely ranking him as one of the top-tier strong ones on Trial Road.
"Xia Yang is indeed very powerful, and he can be considered one of the strongest on Trial Road, deemed to have the qualifications to be a king," the Supreme Elders all expressed admiration when it came to Xia Yang.
The Tiandu Continent is vast, composed of 108 Countries, including innumerable forces of all sizes, and even the royal bloodline scions from the Three Great Empires took part in the Trial Road. It brought together the best of the young generation from the entire continent, with numbers in the tens of thousands, making it the most populous and highest-level event of its kind in history.